Apparatus for cutting ornaments in paper



UNITED ,STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN D. METS, OF DUBUQUE, IOWA.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING ORNAMENTS lN PAPER, LEATHER, de.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,402, dated May 5, 1863.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN D. METs, of Dubuque, in the county of Dubuque and State of Iowa, have invented anImproved Machine for Cutting Ornamental Work in Leather, t

Paper, 8mo. 5 and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a bottom view of the improved machine. Fig. 2 is a top view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, Sheet2, is a longitudinal vertical section through the middle of Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. et, Sheet2, is a vertical transverse section through the main frame, as indicated by the red line i ac x, Fig. 2. Fig. 5, Sheet 2, shows a specimen ofthe ornamental work of the cutter in leather.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to obtain a machine for facilitating the work of cutting out sheets of leather, paper,cloth, gatta-perch a, veneer, and other like materials in ornamental configurations, to be used for inlaying worksuch, for instance, as the finishing or covering of books, wherein it is desired that the edges of the patterns of different colors shall exactly fit each other and present a uniform surface when pasted on the boards which form the covers of books.

The nature of my invention consists in the adaptation of a frame to the reception of two or more knives and two or more yielding platforms, the knives being arranged one within another and the platforms within the compass of the respective knives or frames, and the several borders of frame being united together and having the knives and platforms tted within and upon them, substantially in the manner hereinafter described'.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, I have represented one form or design for the cutter, the result of which, or, rather, the work produced by it, is represented in Fig. 5, which shows two different colors and three separate pieces pasted together. The knives a and b are each curved or corrugated in the form indicated by the edges at the junction of the pieces of leather in Fig. 5; but it will be obvious from the following description that the design or configuration of the knives may be changed, so as to produce any desired form or pattern in leather or any other like material.

A is a metallic frame of a quadrilateral form, the vertical sides of which are corrugated or waved, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, and within this quadrilateral fra-me is another frame, B, of an elliptical form, the interior vertical sides of which are also corrugated or waved. These two frames are cast in one piece, and their upper and lower surfaces are plane and parallel with each other.

The knife a, above referred to, is made of a thin sheet of steel bent in the form shown in the drawings, and secured around the outside edges of the frame A by means of a metal strap, c, which is bolted tightly to the edge of the frame by the bolts or screws d d d. The cutting-edge of this knife projects some distance below the lower surface of this frame A, and the strap c keeps the knife rigidly in its place.

`Within the frame B is arranged a knife, b, which is constructed and applied to its frame C in a similar manner to the knife a above described. This knife b, with its frame C, snugly iits within the frame B, and it can be removed from this frame at pleasure. The heads of the screws e, which are used to secure the knife b around its frame C, are fitted into recesses made in the edge of frame B, and this prevents the removable knife-frame from slipping through or too far through the frame B. The edges of both of the knives a and b are in the same plane, so that when the machine is pressed upon a sheet of leather both knives will cut through the sheet at one and the same time.

To facilitate the operation of the machine in discharging the cut leather from the knives, I employ elastic boards D E, which are cut of the proper shape and size to tit loosely within the spaces formed by the two knives ct and b. The edges of these thin boards or plates D E are cut in conformity with the corrugations of the knives, as shown in Figs. l and 2. These two boards are eacharran ged in their respective spaces, and connected to their respective frames A and O by means of vertical pins g g', which project up from the boards at suitable points and pass loosely through holes in the bracket-plates h h', which plates are secured rigidly tothe upper surfaces ot' their respective frames A C, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, of the drawings. Now, between these supporting-plates h 7L and the upper surfaces of the two boards D E springs i are interposed, which force these boards downward and keep their bottom surfaces on a level with the edges of the knives a and b. These springs i i also allow the two boards D E to yield upward when a pressure is put upon them, and when the pressure :is removed they spring outward again and assume their original position.

In using the above-described machine the sheets of leather or other material whichit is desired to cut are put upon a-suitable-bed and the machine properly adjusted on the sheets. Pressure is now applied to the back of the machine and the knives are forced through the sheets, cutting therefrom (in this instance) pieces corresponding` to those shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. Upon removing the pressure from the machine the springs 'i i thrust the boardsD and E outward and discharge the patterns. When these patterns are made in this way, they will be of the exact form given to the knives which cut them out, and the edges of the patterns thus cut on each side of the knives will exactly t each other, and when put together they will presentthe neatand uniform figure, which I have shown in the drawings, Fig. 5.

If it should be found desirable, still another knife may be employed and arranged within the frame G in the same manner that this frame is supported within the main frame of the machine; but for all ordinary purposes the double cutter will answer.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. Combining with the frame-work A and B Y the knife a and the frame C and its knife b,

and the yielding platforms D and E, as and for the purposes described.

2. The removable, cutter-frame C, with its yielding platform E, when arranged within an outer cutter-frame, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. Constructingthe mainknife-frame so that it will constitute a holder or support for one or more removable knife-frames, substantial] y as described. Y

JOHN D. METS.

Witnesses:

GEO. GRAY, M. H. BEACH. 

